Wrecked railroads, Coal mines, power plants and factories being rebuilt and rehabilitated in Germany after World War 2. Railroad carts on wrecked stations from Allied bombing during the War. Workers repair rails and tracks destroyed by Allied bombers. Workers in a tire factory build railway and automobile tires, in Munich. Trucks manufactured at a truck factory drive out of the factory. People lined to see some of the items produced for export. British occupied Ruhr Valley. Wrecked Krupp factories in Ruhr Valley. A steel smelting plant in operation, workers pour molten steel. Coal cars leave Ruhr Valley. Animated charts show production and export of coal during 1937 and 1946. Miners enter and leave mines. Miners eat and take half of their food out to the children.

Industrial area of Ruhr district. Electrical power cables and installations can be seen. Idle industrial plant in the background, bomb damaged steel and metal works of British zone of occupation in Germany.

On February 23, 1945, Allies commence operations to cross the Ruhr River in Germany, during World War 2. U.S.artillerymen fire 155mm guns from West bank of Ruhr River,against German lines on the East bank. Troops of Allied 1st and 9th Armies await signal to follow advance platoons that crossed the Ruhr earlier. M4 Sherman tanks fire guns at the river edge. Through misty conditions, troops of 104th Infantry Division, 415th Regiment, carry assault craft and begin crossing the river and attacking the industrial area of North Duren. U.S. soldiers are seen running across fields near large factory buildings and firing from them. Troops walk along street in Duren, after its capture. U.S. troops seen entrenched. A medic adjusts his personal flotation belt. They leave their positions and move along a road to cross the river at Linnich. All soldiers are wearing personal flotation belts as they paddle small assault boats across the swift moving river under enemy fire. One assault boat is overturned. Drenched soldiers make it to land and continue their advance. Army engineers construct a floating footbridge, under enemy fire. A soldier runs across the bridge as an American light airplane flies low overhead, surveying the operation. U.S. troops move through destroyed towns and villages. Large group of captured German prisoners marches toward the rear, with arms held above their heads.

Troops of the U.S. 29th Infantry Division cross a floating footbridge erected by U.S. Army engineers across the Ruhr river at Linnich, Germany, during World War 2. Their mission is to capture the fortress town of Jülich. They hurry across the bridge under enemy fire. Major General Charles Gerhardt, Commander of the 29th Infantry, crosses the footbridge along with his troops. Troops enter the city, which has been destroyed by prior Allied bombing, and flush out remaining German snipers from basements of ruined buildings. Soldier seen firing into a basement. Remains of footbridge across the Ruhr river, destroyed by Germans during the night. Combat engineers work building a new heavy pontoon bridge across the river. A German soldier (narrator states: in an American uniform) carrying a white flag, walks towards U.S. soldiers on the opposite bank of the river, and is shot by one of them. U.S. troops cross the new heavier bridge across the river. A U.S. tank that had crossed the river, is seen. A banner is seen, fastened above a stone arch, reading: "This is Julich Germany. Sorry it is so messed up. But we were in a hurry! 29th (Blue & Grey) Div." The Division insignia appears on the banner.

A condensed history of Germany from the first World War through the rise of Hitler and the 3rd Reich, prior to World War II. From the Nazi German perspective, 'Sieg Im Westen' depicts German activities during and after World War 1. German troops take an oath of allegiance to Adolf Hitler. The Alpine landscapes, the Rhine and the Cologne Cathedral. An animation of the German frontiers in Bismarck's time. Interior and exterior scenes of the Ruhr industrial area. View of the Hamburg Harbor. Two German soldiers in Prewar uniforms on honor duty as sentries. A German prewar naval vessel. An animation of the extent of World War I fighting beyond German borders and ending with the presentation of situation on November 9th , 1918. Scenes of World War I fighting. An animation of World War I fighting. Paul Von Hindenburg, a German General and his deputy, General Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff, at a headquarters. Signatures in the Versailles Treaty. An animation depicts the creation of the Polish Corridor. Demilitarization and disarmament activities of German factory areas. World War I German fighter planes are dismantled and wrecked. Strike riots and communist rebellion and fights in front of the Brandenburg Gate. French occupation of Ruhr area. German postwar hyperinflation. Types of German inflation money during post-war collapse of economy in Germany. Adolf Hitler addressing a crowd. Storm troopers in regimental parade formations.

Activities of American First Army advancing eastward in Germany in December of 1944 during World War 2. Units of the 9th Divisions are moved up by truck and meet retiring units of the 1st Division at a road intersection. They enter town of Lucherberg after an artillery barrage, then attack through Inden and close in on Pier Germany. View of ruined buildings and wreckage in Pier, Germany. Sign of 'Duren'. U.S. Army 3rd Armored Division enters into German town on trucks and army tanks. 3rd Armored Division fires artillery at town of Schlich Germany, and are joined in the attack by soldiers of newly arrived 9th Infantry Division. Artillery barrage underway, with targets in Schlich visible in distance. Armored vehicles and soldiers move through mud advancing on Schlich with new piece of equipment known as a rotary mine exploder. German troops are rounded up as prisoners by U.S. Infantry. Gunners fire. On December 11, German prisoners assemble for inspection. Some of the German prisoners appear to be young boys. Smoke screen thrown up by Allies to cover movement of armored column heading into German towns across open field. U.S. Army soldiers enter into wrecked town of Geich, Germany, where buildings are destroyed and still burning. Armor and supply vehicles move through mud. Infantry of 83rd Division arrive as reinforcements and march in snow covered area toward a suburb of Duren. U.S. mortar fire pins Germans retreating toward Ruhr. Infantry attack to clear town outside Duren, and Infantry mop up, clearing German snipers. German troops and female collaborators are rounded up as prisoners. American First Army infantry forces marching on a road, continuing eastward.